Lieutenant Colonel Chandos Benedict Arden Hoskyns (25 September 1895 – 18 June 1940) was a professional soldier with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, serving as part of the

Rifle Brigade The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle ...

. He served on the Western Front and Salonika in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Between the wars, he was posted to India and was a military secretary in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he commanded a battalion in the siege of Calais, where he was mortally wounded.

Early life

Hoskyns was born on 25 September 1895, the only son of the Venerable Archdeacon

Benedict Hoskyns Benedict George Hoskyns (23 February 1856 – 11 September 1935) was an Anglican priest in the first third of the 20th century. He was born on 23 February 1856 into an ennobled family: his father was Canon Sir John Leigh Hoskyns, 9th Bart. He ...

MA and Dora Katharine Hoskyns. Between 1909 and 1912 he studied at

Winchester College Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...

in 'A' house before going on to

Royal Military College, Sandhurst The Royal Military College (RMC), founded in 1801 and established in 1802 at Great Marlow and High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, England, but moved in October 1812 to Sandhurst, Berkshire, was a British Army military academy for training infantry a ...

First World War and inter-war years

First World War

After completing his studies at Sandhurst, Hoskyns was commissioned into the Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) on 15 August 1914 just after the outbreak of the First World War. He trained as a

subaltern Subaltern may refer to: *Subaltern (postcolonialism), colonial populations who are outside the hierarchy of power * Subaltern (military), a primarily British and Commonwealth military term for a junior officer * Subalternation, going from a univer ...

on the

Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale. ''Sheppey'' is derived ...

and then sailed to France with the 2nd Battalion. He became a

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

officer and saw action in 1915, being wounded in the Battle of Loos. In 1917, he was promoted to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, seeing further service on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers *Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...

and in

Salonika Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

. In Salonika, he served with the

Machine Gun Corps The Machine Gun Corps (MGC) was a corps of the British Army, formed in October 1915 in response to the need for more effective use of machine guns on the Western Front in the First World War. The Heavy Branch of the MGC was the first to use tank ...

(MGC) in its 77th Company. In the same year, Hoskyns was

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

and promoted to the temporary rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Inter-war years

After completing his wartime service, Hoskyns was made

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of human resources in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed forces as a non-commission ...

to the 8th Battalion ( Territorial Army/TA) of the

London Regiment London Regiment may refer to two infantry regiments in the British Army: * London Regiment (1908–1938) The London Regiment was an infantry regiment in the British Army, part of the Territorial Force (renamed the Territorial Army in 1921). The ...

. It was in this period he also saw service in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. Between 1927 and 1931, Hoskyns served as Assistant

Military Secretary Military Secretary is a post found in the military of several countries: * Military Secretary (India) *Military Secretary of Israel, called Military Secretary to the Prime Minister *Military Secretary (Pakistan) *Military Secretary (Sri Lanka) * Mil ...

to the Governor of Malta. He was a gifted actor and was known for the high standard of his amateur dramatic productions while on

: Besides acting, he was also an enthusiastic

polo Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...

player. In 1935, Hoskyns was promoted to major before rising to lieutenant-colonel and was placed in command of the 1st Battalion of the Rifle Brigade in 1938.

Second World War

May 1940 saw the German invasion of

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Hoskyns and his men were at

Needham Market Needham Market is a town in Suffolk, England. The town of Needham, Massachusetts, was named after Needham Market. History It initially grew around the wool combing industry, until the onset of the plague, which swept the town from 1663 to 1665. ...

in Suffolk when they received their orders to make for Southampton on 21 May. Embarking at

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

aboard SS ''Archangel'', the battalion arrived at

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

on 23 May. They were there to defend the port. Panzer units under General Heinz Guderian were driving for the coast. This thrust would result in the French northern armies and the British Expeditionary Force being cut off from the southern armies and their lines of communication. For his part, Hoskyns was resistant to his orders, but due to a radio outage could not communicate his intention to command. The battle raged for four days, and on the afternoon of 25 May, Hoskyns was mortally wounded. A shell exploded nearby and a splinter struck him in the side. Evacuated via a small yacht, he died of his wounds in

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

on 18 June 1940. His funeral was at Winchester Cathedral on 22 June before he was buried at Chilworth churchyard in Southampton. At Calais, " s ability was well known, and his death symbolized the sacrifice" of military talent and personnel among the 204 riflemen who died there.

Associated organisations

*"British Army, Rifle Brigade, 5th (Reserve) Battalion *British Army, Rifle Brigade, 2nd Battalion *British Army, 25th Infantry Brigade * British Army, 8th Division * British Army, 77th Machine Gun Company *British Army, 77th Infantry Brigade * British Army, 26th Division * British Army, Rifle Brigade, 1st Battalion"

Personal life

On 26 July 1920, Hoskyns married Joyce Austin Taylor and they had two sons and a daughter. One son, John Hoskyns, also went to Winchester and served in the Rifle Brigade before becoming a successful businessman, founding the

Hoskyns Group Capgemini SE is a multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company, headquartered in Paris, France. History Capgemini was founded by Serge Kampf in 1967 as an enterprise management and data processing company. The compa ...

and then leading Margaret Thatcher's Number 10 Policy Unit.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoskyns, Chandos 1895 births 1940 deaths Burials in Hampshire London Regiment officers Machine Gun Corps officers Rifle Brigade officers People educated at Winchester College British Army personnel of World War I British Army personnel killed in World War II Graduates of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst